The present invention relates generally to video games, and more particularly to provision of video game content to memory resource constrained devices.
Video games provide fun and enjoyment for many. Video games allow users to participate in a variety of simulated activities. Video games allow users, using computer devices, to perform roles and experience activities that the users may not be able or desire to experience directly, whether due to cost, danger, or equipment concerns, or simply due to a role or activity being a fantasy. In providing those simulated activities, video games generally allow a user to immerse him or herself in a richly detailed and extensive virtual world populated by a cast of characters, at least one of which is usually controlled by the user.
Video games are often played on compute devices in the form of game consoles or personal computers. Often, however, users may additionally or instead have a compute device in the form of a tablet, smartphone, or other device. These compute devices often exhibit differences from the game consoles and personal computers generally used for video game play. These differences may include differences in device input, for example tablets and smartphones often use touchscreen inputs, and reduced device capabilities. One capability that may be reduced, for example in tablets and smartphones, is memory available for storage of video game play program instructions and data.
Video games often utilize large amounts of data in providing for video game play. Display of colorful, detailed, and/or possibly realistic screen displays of characters in a virtual world may increase enjoyment of video game play, but such displays often require significant amounts of stored data. For some devices, such as smartphones or other resource constrained devices, full and complete sets of program instructions and data for a video game may overwhelm the device. Even if a particular device may have a capability to store program instructions and data for a full video game, a user may, at times, desire that the device instead store other voluminous data, for example large numbers of large audio, video, or audiovisual files.
Device resource constraint may therefore impact a user's ability to fully enjoy video games, at least without causing the user to forego possibly some other utilization of their device.